Star Wars: The After Math

Chapter 26: Scavenger Scum

The young girl sat on the broken down AT-AT she had made her home. The sun was coming down and the night's cool air was starting to come out. Night was one of the only times that was bearable on the sand-forsaken planet, day was hot unless you had the proper attire; hardly anyone did. Jakku was a hot, sandy planet in the Western Reaches, which is located in the Inner Rim. Off in the distance, Niima Outpost was closing down for the night. The place is always abuzz with people and creatures trading their scraps for things they need. Life on the desert is hard for anyone but for a little girl all alone, that was even harder. All she wanted was her family. Her family she barely remembered anymore. The girl had decided to name herself 'Rey' after Captain Rae Dosmit who had fought in The Battle Of Jakku, after finding her pilot's helmet in the wreckage. Rey went back inside her 'home' after the sun had gone down, strange creatures like to come out at night and even if they don't go after the bigger creatures and humans, little girls like Rey are good prey for them. She rested her head on the few blankets she had and went to sleep, waiting for her family to come back for her had consumed the girl completely.

~ 

Luke and Han walked into the Falcon to find Chewie working on the motivator. That wretched thing always had a problem of some sort. Han bent down and grabbed onto a tool and started tightening the bolts that were loose. Luke had zoned out for a while, starring endlessly at a spot on the ship's wall.

The mission was supposed to be short. This was taking too long. When was Lando's contact going to show up?  Could they even trust the so called 'contact' of his?  Luke waited for hours and then some at the Outpost, he was considering just calling the mission a dud and going home. This was useless. The moment Luke stood a woman in a tan dress walked in his direction. This had to be Lando's contact. He had told Luke that she would be wearing a red cloth on her left arm so that Luke would be able to recognize her in the crowd. Luke walked over to her and said the code-word just to double check before he did anything stupid. According to Han, that was often.

"Rather." Luke said in a whisper of a voice into the woman's ear. She nodded back as if to recognize the word and motioned for Luke to follow her. They walked into a hut and she closed the door behind him.

"I take it you're Lando's friend?" Luke asked her with a glance around the hut.

"If I wasn't do you think I would have taken you into my home to start with?" The woman snapped back.

"Huh. You speak sarcasm. Great." Luke rolled his eyes. This woman was getting on his nerves.

"Can we just get to work?" She asked and Luke nodded in return, but then he opened his mouth to talk again.

"Wait," He said. "I'm gonna to need to know your name if we're going to be working together."

"Zara. Zara Pride." The woman said, her gaze on stuck Luke. Luke thought to himself about that name, It certainly did fit her well, she has a lot of pride. "What's your's?" She asked.

"Luke Skywalker," Luke said and then quickly added, "But most people call me by stupid nicknames or something."  Han had always called him 'Kid' and Leia used whatever insult she could think of.

"Hmm...How about I call you Blondie?" She laughed at his blonde hair that was a mess from the wind outside.

"Fine. My sister calls me worse then that." Luke laughed. "Now, where's the plans?"

Zara grabbed a pile of papers and a hologram off of a table and opened up the hologram image. The mission Luke was sent for was simple: get the old Death Star's plans so no one can make one again. Zara Pride had the plans in her possession, and intended to give them to the Resistance.